Arsenal have been 'naughty'! Gunners slammed for Ollie Watkins bid which left Aston Villa furious - with Jhon Duran to be sold instead

Shearer asked why Arsenal left it so late in the transfer window to make their offer for Watkins, which also came on the afternoon before a Champions League match, and when Villa were already in the process of selling Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr.

Arsenal's offer worth a reported £60 million ($74.5m), was said to have angered Aston Villa due to it arriving just before they were facing Celtic in a crucial Champions League fixture. Even though Watkins was apparently open to joining the Gunners, the bid was turned down and the likelihood of Villa selling at a time when the decision had already been made to let Duran go was slim to nil. Shearer pointed out that Arsenal have needed a striker for months and could have moved much sooner to avoid the latter scenario.

"There's no way Arsenal get Ollie Watkins now, I mean they just couldn't do it, even if they thought it was a good business deal, it was either going to be one or the other and they chose to let Duran go," Shearer told Betfair.

"From an Arsenal point of view it was pretty naughty the timing of it, on the afternoon of a Champions League game, when you consider they've had all month they put the bid in and they've known what they're missing for seven or eight months. It's not as if they've just realised what they're missing. It doesn't take an idiot to work out what they need and now Arsenal have hit the panic button.

"I don't know why it's taken them so long to realise that they need a centre forward, so many people have talked about it for such a long time. [Mikel] Arteta will point to [Bukayo] Saka and [Gabriel] Jesus being out injured, but they needed a centre forward even before they were injured. The only surprise to me is it's taken so long in the window for them to make a move. Watkins is the sort of player that would make the difference for them, in him you're getting someone who's ready-made, but Villa are not going to sell him."

Arsenal only have three days left to source a new striker or finish the remainder of the season without one. It seems like they're on a road to nowhere with Watkins, while time is generally running out amid other links with Jonathan David, Benjamin Sesko and Dusan Vlahovic. The Gunners even have a huge Premier League fixture to contend with between now and Monday night's deadline, hosting Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday evening.